Don't Let Them Steal Your Heart and Money

Scammers will often create a fake online persona and use a fake profile picture as the basis to contact their intended victim, via online dating website or social media or email. The scammer will use a tried and tested approach to lure the victim into believing that their intentions are genuine, gain the victim’s trust and give the illusion that they and the victim are in a romantic relationship, albeit the victim is likely to have never met the person.

What Should You Know ?

Scammers will use high pressure tactics, such as constantly reaching out to the victim online, maybe chatting several times per day, making false promises and sharing intimate photos of themselves or pictures of others, which they claim to be of themselves, with the victim. All of this is to build trust and the illusion of intimacy with the victim.

Once the scammer has the victim believing that they are in a romantic relationship, the tactics will change to con the victim out of their money, sometimes through making up stories about a situation that has happened to them, about them being desperate, or having no one else to confide in and needing money.

At the start, the scammer may not even ask for the money directly. It may be that all they talk about is needing money, and in the end the victim themselves may offer the money. The scammer will start by asking for relatively small amounts of money, they may even promise to pay back the money, however this will be the start of an escalation until the sums of money are much larger. Be aware that there may be a number of permutations on the example above, so that you don’t fall victim to this scammer and end up with the scammer stealing your heart and your money.

What Should You Do ?

You should be wary of online friendships or relationships that appear to be moving ‘too fast, too soon’ and where you are inundated with messages, where it all seems to good or too perfect to be true.

You should never send money to anyone you have never met and have only ever communicated with online or by phone, particularly when the online relationship appears to be moving in a romantic direction.

If you have fallen victim to an online romance scam and have been conned out of your money, you should always report it to the RCIPS.

Report to the RCIPS, call 911